By: Carrie R. Welton and Christine (Thuong) Tran
Most postsecondary learners do not fit the traditional image of a full-time student whose primary responsibility is attending classes. Today’s learners, who we at Trellis Strategies refer to as Modern Learners, balance education alongside other responsibilities, often following nonlinear pathways shaped by life circumstances rather than academic calendars. For these learners, success is often determined by their ability to meet their basic needs, not by what happens in the classroom.
New evidence shows that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) plays an important role in addressing learners’ barriers to success and reinforces arguments for positioning benefits access as a core component of learner success, workforce development, and economic mobility strategies.
Recent research suggests that SNAP participation among students is associated with stronger educational outcomes. A recent national study from Child Trends and RAND found that receiving SNAP was associated with a 63% higher chance of enrolling in postsecondary education among young adults from low-income backgrounds. While SNAP was not independently associated with degree completion in this study, each additional year of receiving any public benefits increased the odds of earning a degree by 12% percent.
Additional evidence that SNAP promotes educational attainment is reinforced by research from the California Policy Lab (CPL). Researchers found that participation in CalFresh, California’s SNAP program, was associated with stronger academic outcomes among California Community College learners. Learners who maintained CalFresh benefits throughout their first year were more likely to earn 30 or more credits and were more likely to return for a second year of college.
Affordability conversations in higher education typically focus on tuition and fees, even though nontuition expenses make up a larger share of the total cost of attendance for students. This gap matters because the costs learners face beyond tuition are a significant threat to persistence. Trellis Strategies’ Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) found that approximately 54% of learners experience at least one form of basic needs insecurity, about 65% reported running out of money at least once in the prior year, and almost half struggled to concentrate due to their financial circumstances. Trellis Strategies’ “Some College, No Credential Survey,” found that personal financial circumstances were the number one reason learners walked away from their educational program (35%), while the cost of attendance ranked fourth (25%). Together, these findings illustrate how financial hardship can hinder learners’ ability to remain enrolled.
Basic needs support for learners is particularly important at a time when employers increasingly require education beyond high school and states are working to increase credential attainment rates. Students cannot enroll or persist toward a credential or career advancement if they are struggling to afford food, housing, transportation, or other essential needs. While financial aid can help learners pay for college, it is often insufficient to cover their full cost of attendance. Nine in 10 Pell Grant recipients still face unmet financial need and many borrow to fill the gap. Together, financial aid and public benefits, like SNAP, can improve people’s ability to access credentials and take on less debt. For many students, both are often necessary to achieve economic stability, but neither is sufficient on their own.
As states navigate growing budget pressure from federal cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, using existing resources effectively will be critical. State higher education leaders must work with their state SNAP agency’s to ensure their SNAP policies support students.
For higher education leaders seeking practical ways to reduce nontuition barriers with existing resources, SNAP represents a powerful but underused tool. By ensuring state SNAP policies support educational attainment and expanding awareness of and access to SNAP, leaders can take immediate steps to strengthen food security, improve learner success, and advance broader workforce and attainment goals.
Carrie R. Welton is a Senior Policy Strategist at Trellis Strategies whose advocacy and technical assistance work sits at the intersection of higher education, public benefits, and workforce systems. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public law from Western Michigan University and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Over more than a decade of leadership in the field, she has built and directed programs and strategies focused on basic needs and opportunity in postsecondary education at organizations including The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), the Hope Center, and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), where she established herself as a trusted expert in public benefits and technical assistance.
Christine (Thuong) Tran is a former Research and Policy Intern at Trellis Strategies and supports research projects that address basic needs insecurity and food insecurity to promote student success. She holds a Master of Education in Education Policy Analysis from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Public Affairs with a minor in Education from Denison University. She has a background in quantitative and qualitative research methods, including data analysis and thematic coding of interview and focus group data.